Darway_DARES

pending

Darway Coast Nigeria Limited established in 2018 with offices in Abuja and Imo State is a renewable energy services company providing electricity to off-grid and underserved communities across Nigeria. Darway Coast's operations, which originated in the Niger Delta region and expanded northward, include 28 active mini-grids with a total installed capacity of 4.3 MW and providing electricity to over 11,000 customers. IFC intends to support the World Bank (WB) financed Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (“WB Nigeria DARES”) project through a proposed investment of a 4-year revolving facility (“IFC DARES Platform” or the “Platform”). This investment aims to support up to 20 eligible mini-grid Renewable Service Companies (RESCOs) and Solar to Home Service (SHS) companies (“Clients”) participating in WB Nigeria DARES by part-financing the construction and operationalization of isolated and/or interconnected mini-grids or sales of SHS in rural or remote communities. It builds on the achievements of the WB financed Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), which has supported the establishment of 175 mini-grids and the sale of over 1.1 million Solar Home Systems, with more than 7.8 million Nigerians gaining access to electricity.The proposed IFC investment consists of a 4-year, senior secured revolving loan of up to $25 million to Darway Coast Nigeria Limited (“Darway Coast” or the “Company”). The loan will part-finance the Company’s capital expenditure plan to construct and operate a total of 63 mini grid sites, The mini-grids sites will comprise i) installed photovoltaic (PV) solar power of between 150kWp – 8MW capacity; ii) Lithium battery storage of between 300 – 6,500KWh capacity; iii) diesel generator sets of between 60 – 4,500kVA capacity, and; iv) local low voltage power distribution network with transformers. The loan shall be secured entirely through an assignment of amounts due to Darway Coast under the WB financed Nigeria DARES project (disclosed on the WB Website - P179687).Under the WB DARES, the company plans to add 81 sites (67 isolated mini-grids and 14 interconnected mini-grids) to its portfolio, increasing its total number of sites to 109 by 2027. This expansion aims to electrify over 1 million households and businesses by 2030. However, proceeds from the IFC finance will only go to develop 63 sites in Cross River, Abia, Rivers, Imo, Lagos, and Ogun, as well as expand into Ebonyi, Kogi, Delta, Jigawa, and the Federal Capital Territory. The mini-grid sites are mostly in rural communities, on small plots of land with sizes ranging from 0.15 hectares up to 10 hectares.Darway Coast has entered into exclusivity agreements with 45 out of the 63 communities targeted by the IFC financing. Land for the mini-grids is acquired in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank-approved Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) developed under the DARES Platform, which serves as a core E&S instrument for projects implemented through this program.